PC Version With VR HMD Support?

[Regulus]

I'd like to suggest Oculus Rift / VR HMD support for the PC version, similar to the 3D platformer "Lucky's Tale":

I think it would be a great asset to the 3D platformer genre in general because it improves the player's ability to perceive platform depth / position due to the stereoscopic viewing and allows the camera to be controlled by the player's head. Both platform position judgement and camera control have been ongoing issues with 3D platformers.

[Yavga]

I guess they are always able to release this feature at a later timespan, right now VR is not mainstream yet. It would be a significant waste of time, money and energy for something so scarcely used right now.

If they had any plans to implement this I think they would have made it a stretch-goal already, or announced it in one way or another.

Never say never, A Playtonics full of flavour!

[Regulus]

Since they're using Unity, by the time Yooka-Laylee is nearing release, it will likely be almost effortless to include head-mounted display support. The only thing that might be a little work is to place the HUD on a 2D plane in the 3D world so that it looks correct from the perspective of both eyes. Everything else, I imagine, will be very easy to implement.

[xiriusnoodles]

Yes, but how would camera controls work, in that case, and how does that affect the gameplay? In a 3D platformer, it is essential that the camera remains stable so that jumps can be well-planned and precise. With the inclusion of a device like the Oculus Rift, the game changes significantly. How does the motion of the player's head affect the player's view, in this instance? In a first-person perspective, the benefits of using a head-mounted display are obvious, but from a third-person perspective, focusing anywhere but the main character's location is at best pointless, and at worst frustrating.

If you were to include the use of a head-mounted display in a game like Yooka-Laylee, you would have to ensure the third-person camera is stable and centered on the main character at all times, while making the motion of the player's head have a role within the game. Otherwise, there would be almost no benefit in using a VR HMD.

Anyway, I believe that if Playtonic were to make a 3D platformer designed for the Oculus Rift, they shouldn't adapt Yooka-Laylee for that. Instead, they should make a unique game that is designed with the player's motion in mind.

[Yavga]

[xiriusnoodles]

Recent Video of Lucky's Tale Gameplay:



Notice what happens when Lucky first leaves the house. He signals the player directly by pointing in the direction to progress in the level. Every time that Lucky is left in idle, he focuses on the player. Then, when he throws the ball at the player, it is shown that the player is very much a real entity in Lucky's world, when the ball bounces off and a faint "thunk" is heard. This breaks the concept of a omniscient, intangible player that is prevalent in 3D platformers ever since their conception, and opens the door to a wide variety of gameplay mechanics (puzzles that Lucky is unable to solve without cooperation, as opposed to control, from the player; events that can lead to objects or characters directly interacting with the player, etc.)

Imagine Kirby Triple Deluxe, with it's constant use of foreground, background, and the player's screen during gameplay, on VR:



As you can see, a 3D platformer on VR is fundamentally different from a 3D platformer on a monitor or a TV, if VR is taken to its fullest potential. Since Rareware is known to have done the best it can with the technology it had on the N64, I imagine Playtonic will be no different, if and/or when it adopts VR in its games.

[Regulus]

xiriusnoodles,

The way it works in Lucky's Tale (which is reportedly a very good experience in terms of head tracking camera controls, though I have not personally tried it), is that your head is the camera, but the game world is significantly smaller than you, so you can use the rotational and positional tracking to essentially look around the character. As your character moves, your head's position follows along with it. You can also look away from your character to see further into the level in any direction. First person is not a prerequisite for VR experiences... if the game world is significantly smaller than your head, third person supposedly works just fine. Since I would like this to be included as an optional replacement for traditional 3D platforming camera controls, I see no reason why this can't / shouldn't be included in Yooka-Laylee.

Yavga,

Wow, another guy with the username "Regulus" is interested in exactly the same thing I am, haha...

[Regulus]

Yes, you are right that more could be done with made-for-VR 3D platform games, but I don't think it's asking for a lot nor would it be a useless feature to tack on basic HMD support.

Even without the head tracking camera controls, it would be nice to view within an HMD just for the stereoscopic 3D effects.

[xiriusnoodles]

[Jellyfunk]

From what I've seen people are enjoying the "tacked on" VR support for older games.

[xiriusnoodles]

[Shawnsim]

forums.playtonicgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1097

Don't know if I did it right but, there is already a thread about it.

[sheepdestroyer]

Valve has been working with Unity to integrate and optimise VR.

I really hope that Playtonic will take the time to look at feasibility/VR-camera-controls to give us something better than Lucky's Tale (no doubt here and not exclusive to Oculus.

It would be so neat... Already day dreaming about it

[Rueckkoppler]

Isn't mod support planned anyways? Some fans could deal with that thing then.

[Preston]

I havnt heard that mod support is planned? But if it us that would be amazinggggg

[Rueckkoppler]